Second Best
by Eighteen Inches
Summary: It hurts to be second to your cousins. It hurts even worse when you have to watch someone you love, love someone else.


Second Best

It tears her apart inside to see _her_ with him.

It's a Weasley, Potter, Scamander, Longbottom, Wood, and Lupin gathering – it's supposed to be happy. For her, it's anything but. She's surrounded by happy couples, and she hates it.

Teddy and Victoire, Dominique and Lorcan, Lucy and Xavier, Rose and Scorpius, Albus and Alice, Fred and Abigail, Louis and Isabella, James and Leah, Hugo and Elizabeth, Roxanne and Jonathan, but worst of all, it's _Molly and Lysander. _

It's always them, always has been and always will be. Everyone loves them together and they just forget how she feels about it. Not that it matters anyway; he doesn't feel the same way – not anymore, that is.

What she and Lysander had is long gone now. He's moved on to something better – Molly. Was she, Lily Luna Potter, really jealous of _Molly?_

Maybe she is, maybe she isn't. _I'm used to it, though,_ Lily thought.

She's always going to be second best – to everyone.

She's never loved anyone the way she loves Lysander, expect maybe Scorpius. But that doesn't matter, he chose Rose.

She thought she loved Teddy – but that was only a childhood crush, nothing more. Besides, he's Victoire's. Always has been, since before she was even born.

Every guy she's ever loved has been stolen from her – by one of her cousins. They're supposed to be her family and they do that to her?

She scoffs and takes a giant gulp of her Butterbeer, wishing it was something stronger.

She remembers a time when she was happier. When she had Lysander for herself – that was years ago, though, and things change.

* * *

_They were at their favorite spot – a small clearing near a little pond in the middle of a Muggle forest. It was the place they always went when they just wanted to be alone with each other. The place they went even before they started dating. It was unofficially their spot. _

"_Don't," she screams, laughing as she squirms, trying to get out of his grip._

_Lysander stops tickling her. He leans down and gives her a quick peck on her lips. "You're too cute, you know that?"_

_Lily smiles, she can't remember a moment when she's been this happy. She's only ever smiled this much when she's with him._

* * *

"Lily," a familiar voice says, pulling her from her thoughts and her flashback.

She turns in the direction of the voice to see none other than her mother. She holds an urge to roll her eyes. She already knows what her mother is going to say, and she doesn't want to hear it.

"Are you sure you're alright?" her mother asks.

"Yes," Lily says, lying through her teeth. _Of course I'm not, _she thinks.

She quickly turns and walks away without a second glance at her mother. She knows she's left her with a shocked expression on her face, but she doesn't care about that. She doesn't care about anything; not anymore.

She just needs to get away from all this happiness and lovey-dovey crap – it's all too much for her. She knew she shouldn't have come just to watch the one she loves be with _her._

She closes her eyes for a moment, using her free hand to grip the garden fence. She groans. It's the next best thing to screaming right now. She lets go of the fence before she kicks it. She throws her bottle against it, watching it shatter into a million pieces – just like her heart.

She hates herself for feeling this way. But mostly, she hates Molly and Lysander for making her feel this way.

She rubs her face with her hands before running them through her hair, as she falls into a sitting position the ground. She's no longer Lily Potter, she's just an empty shell, running on auto-pilot. Why does she even try anymore, nothing she does is ever good enough for anyone.

She pulls her knees to her, folding her arms on top of them and burying her face in her sweater covered arms. She was never good enough for anyone – especially not Lysander. He never wanted her like she wanted him. He'd much rather choose Molly, with her perfect auburn curls and bright blue eyes.

She hears footsteps, and from the smell of the perfume in the air, she knows it's her mother again.

"Mum, just leave me alone," she says firmly. She's not in the mood to deal with anyone right now.

"I'm just worried about you," Ginny replies.

"I'm fine," she mumbles through the sweater. "I _don't _want to talk about it, alright."

"I know it feels like the end of the world right now," Ginny tells her. "I know it hurts right now. But it's fine. Lysander is only one boy. Sooner or later, you'll find someone else and move on from him, just like he has…don't give up, sweetie."

She hears more footsteps and tilts her head up to see her mother's retreating figure.

_Maybe she's right._

Lily shakes her head. Why should she try with a different guy? How would a third time be any different? She can't allow herself to go through that again.

She feels the tears beginning to fall and she hates herself for being so vulnerable and crying.

She's not naïve or she doesn't think she is. But she must be if she even thought for a second that they would actually return her feelings.

Love hurts – especially when you have to watch the one you love, love someone else.

* * *

AN: This is written for the Pairing Diversity Boot Camp Challenge with the prompt love hurts, the Character Diversity Boot Camp Challenge with the prompt tears and the Jealousy Competition.

I was kind of bored when I wrote this and I was just in an angsty kind of mood and so this happened. Thanks to my awesome Beta, Ashley, for betareading(:

Disclaimer: I'm obviously not JK Rowling, so I own nothing.


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